


Lights out

by chancellorxofxtrash (PhoebeMurdivine)



Category: Baccano!
Genre: College AU, Fake Dating, M/M, baccanoweek, honestly i don't even know how this ended up being
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 11:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7932955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoebeMurdivine/pseuds/chancellorxofxtrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Electricity had been turned off, and there's gonna be no heat either. What's two roommates to do, other than get money through unconventional means? And if they have to pretend to be a couple to do get that, well. They are willing to make that sacrifice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lights out

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Viwitch, who had encouraged me to do this. Also, to Shem, who also did. This is for you two.
> 
> Inspiration came from this picture: http://67.media.tumblr.com/63cbf2bf3c492f488f7fb9902baf4d30/tumblr_o34qaexZD71r5eua4o1_500.jpg
> 
> Baccanoweek Day 6: Light or Dark

“Oh, darkness, old friend. Like a cave where Platon climbed in, it is how it feels here right now. Right now, the warmth of the outside keeps my body comfortable, but what happens, if the nights grow longer, and the cold will sneak in under the windows like a home invader… and you can’t even fight off this home invader!”

“Look at the bright side, my friend: it’s unlikely an actual home invader would come in, seeing as it’ll be freezing cold and dark if we can’t pay the bills anytime soon. Isn’t it the cruelest twist of fate? Maybe we should go live in the forest instead, on Mother Nature’s lovely arms.”

“...are you two aware that you are talking about possibly freezing to death?”

Ricardo was already regretting visiting his seniors.

As usual, Christopher and Graham’s apartement looked like a hurricane hit it, and the two of them were lying around on the floor. Like the absolute disasters they were.

“Shaft told me the sitution. You really can’t get any money? Don’t you have a job, Graham?”

“Ah, you see, that’s a very sad, terrible story indeed…”

“Five words or less, Graham, please.”

Graham opened his mouth and closed it, and it was Chris who tapped his chin.

“He. Was. Fired. Three words are good? Oh no, now this was more than three words. I’m sorry Ricardo! But words, they flow so nicely, I...”

“It’s okay, I got it. But fired? What did you… you know what, neither of you answer, I don’t even want to know” Ricardo sighed, and just reached into his bag, taking out a piece of paper. “Here. I brought you this. This might help.”

 

It was a pamphlet for the Psychology Department of the University. It wasn’t news that they would have paid studies every now and then, but most of the time, Christopher didn’t pay much attention to it. Often only heard about them when all the spots were filled.

This study paid actually pretty well, and lasted at least half a year, with monthly payment. It needed continuous meetups with the supervisors, and following the requests they were given. Contract could be eliminated any time, but then the already paid money would have to be sent back. All in all, it didn’t look that bad.

The one issue was, that this study needed romantic couples, who were together for at least six months, and had been living together.

 

“As nice as this opportunity is, Ricardo, I don’t think we qualify.”

Ricardo shook his head as Chris was about to give back the pamphlet.

“Cazze and I don’t qualify either. Officially. They don’t have to know we are not actually dating. You two could do that as well.”

The response was two blank looks, and Ricardo just massaged his temple.

“Pretend you are dating. You two had been living together since your first year at the University, it should be no problem. Pretend you two are dating for half a year, then everything can go back to normal. Only you’ll be richer, and won’t freeze to death.”

Chris hummed, reading over the pamphlet again.

“Hey, Graham, what do you think?”

“Deception! Disgrace! Oh no wait, that was The Lion King. Aaaand now this was Doctor Who. Why are people arguing over whether it is the Doctor or Doctor Who? What kind of name is Doctor Who? Obviously, his name is the Doctor!”

“Technically both are correct, because originally he was credited as Doctor Who” Ricardo pointed it out with a weary sigh. “But that’s not the point.”

“Point? What kind of point? Oh, I didn’t do my assignment. Assignments! It’s all the oppressive power that comes from capitalism, that our worth is measured by numbers!”

Chris walked over, grabbed Graham by the shoulders, pulling his roommate to his feet to be look into his eyes.

“Graham Specter. Would you give be the honour of being my fake-boyfriend for the next six months for money?”

“Oh. So that’s what you meant by point. What a woeful tale, that we had to rely on deception, to be able to live, alas, I don’t think we have a choice in the matter…”

This was the point where Ricardo turned away and walked out of the apartement.

-

Signing up was fairly easy - they just asked their details, how long have they been together, how long have they been living together.

“Don’t you want to hear a beautiful story? A heartfelt story? A touching story? A story of love and…”

“No thank you, Mr Specter” one of the professors interrupted him. “There will be time for enough stories for later in the study.

Shame. They really planned out their story of how they got together, and everything.

-

“Ah, I wonder why did Cazze and Ricardo decide to do this scheme as well?”

Christopher wondered, walking down the university’s halls, musing just to himself, while looking at Cazze and Ricardo through the window.

“They are both rich, after all…”

“Hooooneeeeyyyy, happy biiiiiiirthdaaaaay!”

He had to duck from Graham’s pouncing frame, but hey, they could at least say this was just how they flirted, couldn’t they?

-

“That was a really convoluted plan to get them together.”

“Maybe. And I already wonder if it’ll be worth it. They may be more insufferable when they get together than they already are.”

Cazze was sitting on the back of a bench, sneaking his arms around Ricardo’s waist, who was just frowning.

“I think you are overdoing it.”

“I don’t think I am. Felix had said PDA is important if we want people to believe we are in love.”

“Your friend Felix regularly scales the walls of the university when he is being late from lectures, or when he just feels like competing with that Rachel girl, that who can climb the highest. Or when he just feels like showing off to his girlfriend. I don’t think he is a good point of reference.”

“He is dating with Chane for years now, soooo…”

Ricardo just sighed, but did not pull away from Cazze’s arms.

-

“So how come you are fighting in the corridors, when you claimed to be dating? Is this a scheme to just get the money? Because let me tell you…”

Okay, so the professor who apprehended them for fighting was one of the professors doing the study. Who knew.

“This is how we met! Professor, are you being judgemental against love? Against our Public Display of Affection?”

“Mr Shouldered I mean…”

“This is a tragic story indeed” Graham rested his chin on his fingers. “Judged by authority figures… having our love questioned. Oh, Christopher whatever we gonna do? Do we have to fight for our honour?”

“Mr Specter I assure you…”

“I afraid so, Graham” Christopher nodded solemnly. “We are being judged. What a woeful tale! Ostracized by society for everything we have ever did, it’s like----”

“Enough!”

The professor obviously had gotten fed up, judging by the way he slammed his hand on the table. But it was at least effective at shutting both of them up.

“Physical violence, be it… Public Displays of Affection, or otherwise, are not tolerated on campus. We had this talk fifteen times already.”

“...fifteen?”

“Oh” Christopher waved at Graham’s confusion. “Fifteen for me. Once I fought that Felix guy, and got caught.”

“Anyways” the professor sighed, fixing his glasses. “Just. Keep it off campus, would you? You are dismissed.”

When the door was closed behind them, Christopher sighed.

“Well, this was accomplished. For a moment I was worried the jig was u-”

He couldn’t finish, because Graham grabbed his face, and pulled him into a kiss.

It was kind of awkward, clumsy, and Christopher flailed awkwardly, not knowing what to do with his arms, until Graham pulled away, and just grinned.

“Authencity is important for a good story, isn’t it? And Lady Fortuna is said to favour people who kiss others, and we’ll surely need more of her graces, if people continue to judge and ostracize us.”

And with that, Graham was gone, and for once, Christopher was speechless.

-

“So why did you two agree to playing along?”

Christopher finally found time to ask this from Cazze and Ricardo. Okay, the opportunity presented itself - for most of the month, they could get by without electricity, but when the heating got turned off as well, the nights were getting colder and colder, and they weren’t paid yet, the two first years offered them to stay at their apartement for a few nights until they could pay the bills. In exchange for Christopher’s cooking skills, and for Graham to fix their sink. It took a while to convince him to not take it apart, but eventually it worked.

He did take apart the microwave, though.

And of course, Christopher’s question was valid - the apartement Cazze and Ricardo were renting was gorgeous, with two rooms, and really, it was much bigger than the hole Christopher and Graham lived in. They did have their own rooms too, but they were much, much smaller than the ones the boys had.

Cazze grinned as an answer.

“What makes you think we are playing along?”

Ricardo shot him a glare before turning back to Christopher.

“We do want to collect as much money as we can on our own. It’s hard to find a job during our first year because of our schedules, but later we do plan on working as well. We do not want to depend on our family’s wealth forever.”

-

Despite the big place, there was no comfortable couch to sleep on, and they didn’t have spare beds.

So Cazze moved to Ricardo’s room, letting Graham and Christopher take over his room.

There was only one bed in both rooms.

So they had to share the beds.

Obviously. As one does, in these situations.

-

It was a good thing Ricardo had known Cazze since they were kids - it was much easier like this. He was not sure he could have shared a bed with anyone else.

“Really? Bed sharing? That is like the most cliché ever. I’m sure we could have gotten share beds.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, Cazze.”

Cazze was casually lying on the bed, grinning at Ricardo as he was also lying down next to him.

“That said, I do think this is adorable. We could have said them to cuddle against the heat though.”

“That is too straightforward. They are not _stupid,_ you know. Rambling, and easy to sidetrack, yes. Stupid, no.”

“That said, I do think we don’t need that much heat either. It is too hot in there, or is it just you?”

Ricardo looked at Cazze who was still grinning at him.

“...are you hitting on me for real?”

“...maybe.”

He looked pondering for a second before Ricardo leaned forward, and Cazze’s eyes widened a little… and then Ricardo shoved him out of the bed.

“If you want to seduce me, Carzelio Runorata, you’re gonna have to try better than that. Until then, you stay on the floor.”

Cazze laughed, a big, hearty laugh, but did not move from the floor.

“Challenge accepted, Ricardo.”

-

Christopher woke up early in the morning, with Graham lying on top of him.

It was a massive tangle of limbs, the blankets and pillows ending up on the floor, and he could basically feel Graham’s heartbeat on his own chest.

Or was it his own?

He raised a hand, brushing Graham’s hair out of his face, which made him open his eyes.

He didn’t know which one of them kissed the other, this time.

-

Really, it shouldn’t have been this easy to ignore a kiss.

Oh, they kissed after as well - mostly in public, usually Graham being overenthusiastic about something and yanking Christopher close to a kiss, but sometimes it was Christopher, who pulled Graham close. Or gave him the dip.

The first time Christopher did that, and grinned at him, a blush crept to Graham’s face, and Christopher thought of that more than he should have thought of that.

And in a short while, they could move back to their own apartement (now full with light, and _heating,_ thankfully), so even the weirdness of sharing a bed faded away.

The weeks passed - the questions the professors were asking were really, standard stuff, about each other’s habits. They always tried to keep it short with them though, for reasons Christopher couldn’t even imagine.

“Hey, Chi, can I ask something?”

“Knowing you, you surely will, even if you say no.”

“My friend, I might wait a few hours before posing my question, if you say no.”

“So I can get a few hours of peace at least?”

They were in the library, and after a few moments of silence, Chi sighed.

“What’s the question?”

“Okay, so. Confession, my dear friend…” Christopher glanced around before leaning forward to whisper. “Graham and I are not actually dating - it is a trick, a trick we were forced into by the cruel nature of paying for living! Don’t you find it dreadfully cruel? How much one has to pay?”

Chi gave him his Unimpressed Look #4.

“You could live in the dormitory. Whatever. What is the question?”

“Do you think maybe we could work for real as well?”

Okay, the look he got as an answer was somewhere between Unimpressed Look #7 and #8. He might have to sign this up as Unimpressed Look #9, then.

“Look. You are already driving everyone up the wall, even if you are not dating. I fail to see what difference would it make.”

“Well, for starters.”

Okay, that was not an Unimpressed Look. That was Threatening Look #1.

“And I don’t even care. Now shut up.”

-

“Did you steal one of your bodyguards’ bikes?”

Ricardo tried to stop himself from smiling with moderate success, because Cazze’s earnest grin was infectous as he was leaning to the side of the bike. Maybe most people would have thought that grinning earnestly was weird, but really, Ricardo had known Cazze for way too long now. So yes, he knew this was possible. For Cazze.

“Let’s say that I temporarily borrowed it. And really, I’m their boss. I can borrow a bike. If they have to go somewhere, I’m sure they have secret replacements. Want a ride, hot stuff?”

“Only if you never call me hot stuff again.”

“Alright, deal, that was terrible, wasn’t it?”

Ricardo shook his head, but couldn’t hide a small smile.

“Hey Ricardo, do I get a kiss after the ride?”

“I thought I told you to try harder.”

 

Then Cazze took him on a ride, up a mountain road, and hell, Ricardo had been there before. But not during the sunset, not while clinging into Cazze’s waist as he was driving up.

 

Yeah. Maybe Cazze did deserve that kiss.

 

“Why all the roundabout though? Why not just ask me out?”

Cazze shrugged with a small, slightly shy smile.

“Because it’s never that easy with you, Ricardo. So I guess I didn’t want it to be easy either.”

-

Halloween rolled over, with their heat and light returning - and of course Graham and Christopher unanimously decided it was the time to start preparing for Christmas. Which, obviously meant more lights as it was sensible (especially if you asked their neighbours).

If you asked these two, they were still toning it down.

“Have you decided what are you giving Shaft for Hannukah or…”

“Oh, material things are beneath the friendship Shaft and I share. Materialism is a cancer of our society! Cancer! Awful, awful, sad, sad society.”

“So you have no idea.”

With that, the lights went out. Not just the christmas lights - all the other electricity died in the house too.

The two of them just stood there in the dark for a few moments.

“Christopher - please tell me you did not neglect to pay for electricity.”

“...I definitely did not. I think the lowly fusebox could not handle our holiday spirit.”

Graham went to the radiator, pressing his body against it, closing his eyes.

“Oh, even in the darkness, at least the warmth does not leave us… so we don’t have to go to friends to beg for shelter again.”

“Was it such a terrible feeling to share a bed?”

Graham opened his eyes, looking up at Christopher from under his bangs.

“I do not recall saying that. I’m pretty sure I never said that. Are you hearing things, Christopher? Or could it be that it’s me, talking in my sleep? Did I talk in my sleep when I was lying next to you?”

Christopher walked closer, just crouching down next to Graham, not breaking eye contact - his eyes were already mostly used to the dark, thanks to the street lights from outside.

“What if I’d tell you I’m tired of deception?”

“That’d be a problem because we wouldn’t be able to pay the bills. And our heat would be gone again, and we’d freeze to death, Hypothermia is said to be very unpleasant death, it starts wi--”

Christopher didn’t let him finish, just grabbed Graham’s shirt, pulling him close for a kiss.

His shirt and face was warm from the radiator, and Christopher just felt Graham’s hands grab onto his shirt, pulling him closer.

Sure, they were gonna have to change the fusebox.

Eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> I am aware that this would have been better as a 10k+ fanfic, but I had neither the time or the energy to do so. Also, writing Chris and Graham really killed my brain. I can't even judge how I did, good god, how does Narita do this. Kudos to Narita, man. Kudos.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
